Atherton Tablelands Has Much to Off Er the Latter-Day Explorer
dinner’s on the tablelands With its Indigenous heritage, historic hamlets, lush rainforest, abundant wildlife and tempting tropical produce, the Atherton Tablelands has much to off er the latter-day explorer. WORDS SIMON THOMSEN PHOTOGRAPHY THOMAS WIELECKI Coffee country: Skybury Tropical Plantation, Mareeba DECEMBER 2013 QANTAS 83 FORAGE TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND The Great Barrier Reef grabs the attention of most visitors to Cairns, but turn your attention west and you’ll fi nd the Atherton Tablelands, an area of dramatic beauty and World Heritage-listed national parks. It’s blessed with crater lakes, lush rainforests, EAT excellent Thai fish cakes, spring The Royal Hotel rolls and fish dishes such as yabby pretty waterfalls and abundant wildlife. 46 Grace Street, Herberton. curry, as well as traditional fish The Indigenous heritage remains strong (07) 4096 2231. and chips. Take away a range of royalhotelherberton.com.au smoked products from eel and and it’s also an important food bowl, with This graciously classic two-storey ham to barramundi, plus sausages, tropical fruits such as mango, papaya and 1880 hotel lays claim to being one bushfood-flavoured chicken and of Queensland’s oldest continually even crocodile “bacon”, made by banana, as well as crops such as peanuts, licensed pubs. The publican and butcher Dave Hoffman, as well as /LAKE EACHAM/RUSTY’S MARKETS: GETTY IMAGES coff ee, tea, sugarcane and macadamia chef Paul Watson knocks up fresh fish and yabbies. decent pub grub for the beer nuts. Prime dairy country, it has seen a rise garden – chicken parmigiana, Lake Barrine Teahouse in cheesemakers in the past decade.
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